The Saturday Update

Weekend breakfast in bed

 Good morning and Happy Weekend everyone!  This is how our weekend started - beautiful sunshine and a delicious breakfast in bed.  When we first talked about moving in together over a year ago now, the idea was to have less stress with travelling between flats and to be able to get a cat.  This morning really made me realise how many of our dreams have come true this year when we were in bed with breakfast and the cat watching German TV and just enjoying the weekend.  It's just wonderful!

 

 

 

Delicious gluten free croissants that Nico bought me

It's been a great week although very busy.  I finished another knitting project which I'm very proud of, conducted and marked the year ten English exam for my group and they did really well!!, and had another lovely lunch with Loreto, making a new friend - Camila and practising my Spanish!

On Tuesday I had a strange day when I managed to lock a pupil in a classroom over break, oops!  Luckily he wasn't as sensitive as I would have been and took it well...  It's made me a lot more cautious though!  I also had an interesting languages hiccup with a pupil which may have knocked my reputation at school.  He came to the staffroom asking for water and I wanted to tell him that we only had tap water - unfortunately I have visited one too many bars in Germany and said 'vom Fass' (from the barrel / on tap) instead of 'vom Hahn' (from the tap).  So while I may have gained a reputation as an alcoholic, I won't be making that mistake again and he took it in good spirit.  Tuesday also saw the last Spanish department meeting with our current head of department who is retiring at the end of this school year.  It was inspiring to hear her talk about her career at the school.  It made me both inspired to work harder in my Spanish classes and a little sad that I hadn't gotten to know her better over these two years.  It seems strange but I'm only just starting to feel like I belong in the school and that I'm part of a team there and not just the foreigner who's going to disappear again soon.  Still waiting on that contract though...

Wednesday was the exam day so it seemed really long, but as I said, the kids mostly did better than expected and when I worked out their overall grades, none have below a four which is good.

On Thursday I had a drink with my English students which was nice after not getting together for a while with holidays.  I don't always look forward to the meeting as it is a bit later in the evening and I'm tired after work but I always come away feeling good.

Friday was really nice as I had cover lessons now that year ten have finished and watched an English film with the year seven pupils.  I got all my cleaning and washing done before heading out in the glorious sunshine for a lunch with Loreto and Camila.  I find it hard to stay on track when eating out.  I guess it depends where you eat but we tend to eat at a restaurant which only has two salad options and neither of them sound very filling as they offer bread as a side which I can't eat.  I did okay though with a jacket potato and allowed myself a glass of wine.

This week I have stayed the same on the scales which is good considering how busy I have been and how I haven't had the energy for zumba in this heat.  We may head out to find the lake in Huchting later for a cooling swim so at least that will be some form of exercise and I have been cycling a lot including to work and back one day this week.  (It would have been two but a motorway accident on Friday meant that our route had very heavy traffic and I'm not comfortable enough on the bike to cycle through that.

Next week we will be having a visit from Mum and Doug so we will be out and about a lot.  We also have a nice long weekend due to a bank holiday Monday (with Tuesday off too) so let's hope this weather holds out!  We are visiting Fischerhude with Loreto on Tuesday which I have heard a lot about but will be new for me too so I'm excited about that too!  Have a good week!

Reflecting

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 At the weekend, I saw some clips from episodes of the American TV series 'Girls'.  I had read about this new series which is supposed to be a younger, more realistic version of Sex and the City - a series I loved.  When I excitedly tried to see what all the fuss was about, I have to admit, I was sorely disappointed.  I'm not sure if it's just that I don't get 24 year old humour any more or if it's something wrong with the series - it made me cringe the whole time I was watching it.  Some parts just weren't at all realistic but for me, I have to have a character I can identify with and I really couldn't.  I found it offensive to twenty-something women that the series portrays them in such a way.  The only good things I can say about what I saw is that they included some actresses who weren't size zero.  In that way, and for me that way alone, the series was more realistic.

This started me thinking about how much I have changed in the last three years.  In my head, I don't feel any different to the 24 year old me but when I look at where I am and what I'm doing I can see that so much has changed and in a good way.  If you had told me three years ago that I would be where I am now, I would not have believed it but I couldn't be more grateful for every single change in my life since then.  

Around this time three years ago, I drove back to my Dad's house from my place in Harrogate having been sent home from work 'sick'.  I'll never forget the drive because I don't know how I managed to stay on the road in the floods of tears I was in.  That week I had found out that my contract at the school I was at would not be renewed and that they were cutting German from the syllabus entirely, I found out that I couldn't stay in my flat as my flatmate had anorexia and was moving home - I couldn't afford the place alone, and the guy I was seeing finished with me to go back to his ex.  I couldn't see anything good in my life and didn't think it would ever get better.  I'd spent years studying and doing everything I was supposed to do to get the job I wanted and it wasn't good enough.

Today, I can see more than ever that everything happens for a reason.  If I hadn't had that terrible week, I would be in a very different place now.  Losing that job, led me to a brilliant interim job at a specialist languages school and ultimately to my job here in Bremen, which I love.  If the situation in England had not been so dire on the languages jobs front, I would never have considered looking this far afield.  Having this job led me to Nico - my boyfriend and best friend who understands me more than anyone and makes me the happiest girl alive.  Meeting Nico eventually meant moving into our lovely flat together and building a home with Pete the cat.  I can't explain the change in mental state that I have had here - somehow I don't feel like I'm on some treadmill anymore, trying to reach the future and get to where I want to be.  I feel like I'm there now.  It doesn't mean that I don't still have goals and things I want to do, it just means that I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be right now.

I guess when I consider all this, I must be a different person to three years ago and I definitely do find different things important, funny or difficult.  My message today has to be to those who find themselves in a situation like I was in three years ago - Hold on.  It does get better!  Everything happens for a reason and makes you stronger - I'm living proof!